A contemporary dance performance featuring a group of gifted young dancers takes place May 22 at the Whalebone Theatre in Parksville.
Helix Dance Theatre Company is presenting Perception in Motion at 7:30 p.m. and artistic director Sarah DeVito said it has all the elements that you would see from a high caliber troupe.
She said if you are a fan of cutting edge dance that draws on each performer’s inner feelings as well as their dance moves this is a must see show.
DeVito who is a choreographer and co-owner of Innovate Dance Arts in Parksville said the young dancers who are in the company are not only driven and compassionate they are super talented.
“These are the high achieving kids. They choose to spend their Friday evenings dancing.
They are competing at high levels elsewhere and then coming together in this capacity. They are hungry for more and want to be pushed.”
DeVito said the goal of the company is to create work that demonstrates an elevated technical and artistic caliber and showcase the talents of their dancers.
Helix Dance Theatre Company incorporates contemporary, modern, stylized jazz and acrobatics, with a strong emphasis on classical ballet technique to create unique and stylized choreographic works.
She said besides encouraging their dancers to nail their choreography, they also ask them to be mindful of their pieces and use their movements as a medium to convey education through dance.
“We asked the girls to be thoughtful about the work they are performing and creating.
It is always thematic in nature and we ask them to do more than just dance it,” she explained.
She said that through unique and relevant repertoire created by several talented choreographers each piece has a message that connects dancers to their work.
“These girls are doing fairly sophisticated work and they need to be able to approach it in a mature and intelligent way.”
Helix is nearly at the end of season six and DeVito said they have come a long way since they started the company and they continue to evolve.
“We are learning and our access to people we bring in has changed over time as we create a wider network of professionals. We know what the company is now and where we want to go with it.”
She agreed that the growth of the company has been positive and it shows in their year end performances which just keep getting better and better.
“Because we have a network of friends and supporters who consistently come to our performances the number one thing they will say is: I loved it last year and I thought it topped the year before but this year you even went above it.”
Auditions for season seven are being held at the end of June. DeVito also announced that they are launching a new junior company so they will be accepting dancers ages 11-13. Tickets for the May 22 performance are available through company members or at Petal & Kettle or Innovate Dance Arts in Parksville.
